Tim Walz agrees to date for first 2024 VP debate as JD Vance responds!
New York, New York - Tim Walz has agreed to a date for the first vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle against Republican rival JD Vance.
CBS announced on social media Wednesday that it had invited the two VP candidates to a debate in New York City. The network said it offered both campaigns four dates as options: September 17, September 24, October 1, and October 8.
"See you on October 1, JD," Walz responded on X.
The Minnesota governor was revealed as Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate last week and has since been on a whirlwind tour of states trying to drum up support for the Democratic ticket.
Donald Trump announced in July that he had selected Vance as his running mate. The first-term Ohio senator accepted the nomination during the Republican National Convention that same month.
The campaign rivals have since traded barbs on everything from their Midwestern values to their military records.
Walz said at his debut rally in Philadelphia last week that he "can’t wait to debate the guy – that is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up." The comment was referring to a false claim that JD Vance admitted to having sex with a couch in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy – an allegation that, although baseless, has since taken the internet by storm.
JD Vance responds to Tim Walz's debate challenge
Vance's response to Walz's October 1 date challenge has been less than fully committal.
"I strongly suspect we’re going to be there on October the 1st, but we’re not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don’t actually have an audience there, where they don’t actually set the parameters in a right way, where we can have a good exchange of ideas," Vance told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday.
"In other words, we’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate," he said. "We’re going to do a real debate, and if CBS agrees to it, then certainly we’ll do it."
Meanwhile, Harris and Trump are set to debate for the first time on September 10 in a highly anticipated showdown hosted by ABC News.
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS